Iran is claiming a stunning battlefield upset after new‑generation Imad and Ghadr ballistic missiles punched through Israel’s Iron Dome and upper‑tier defences in a night attack that hard‑line media is hailing as the “rusting of the Zionist shield.”

Sirens screamed across Tel Aviv and central Israel as radar picked up a mixed salvo of Imad and Ghadr missiles arcing out of western Iran. Israeli Arrow and David’s Sling batteries intercepted many, but at least several warheads survived the gauntlet, slamming into an air‑defence radar site, an ammunition depot and an industrial zone, triggering towering fireballs and sending shockwaves through nearby neighbourhoods.

Iranian commanders boast the upgraded missiles carried manoeuvring re‑entry vehicles and decoy packages designed specifically to confuse Israeli tracking algorithms. Footage aired on Iranian TV shows multiple radar returns splitting and weaving in the terminal phase, with commentators triumphantly declaring: “The rusty dome has holes.”

The IDF concedes a “complex and challenging engagement,” acknowledging “localized damage” and several injuries, while insisting the majority of threats were still neutralised. Behind closed doors, however, analysts warn that the psychological blow may be as serious as the physical one: a core pillar of Israel’s deterrence just took a very public hit.

As images of burning depots and stunned residents fill screens from Tehran to Tel Aviv, one question now hangs over the region: was this a one‑off ambush by Iran’s newest missiles—or the opening chapter of a war in which Israel’s famed dome will face wave after smarter, deadlier wave?